Safety apparatus for gas illuminating devices



' v 1,616,493 L.H:LL'

SAFETY APPARATUS FOR GAS ILLUMINATING DEVICES Filed Oct. 23, 1923 VIII/IA H myEN'roR v augs Hill E/aim m 715? ATTORNEY sive cylindrical portion, 11.

Patented Feb. 8, 1927.-

' LotrIs HILL, or" AKRON", OHIO.

SAFETY APPARATUS non GAS ILLVUMINATING DEVICES) Application filed October 23, 1923. Serial No. 670,236. j

My invention relatesto a safety apparatus for gas illuminating devices, of the type in Which a' gas burner is controllable by hand for-the purpose of turning on and oil the flow of gas, and in which means are provided for automatically turning 0a the flow of gas in the'event that the gas flame is at any time extinguished when the flow of gas is not turned on byhand More particularly stated, I seek to produce a device of the general character just mentioned and having but few mechanical. parts, these parts being of simple construction and each'having'such form as to enable it to be made up cheaply and readily standardized, my device as a whole being suit-- ablev for burners of the kind that have, already come into generaluse.

Reference is made to' the accompanying drawing forming a part of my specification, and in which like reference characters indicate like parts throughout the several figures. I

Figure 1 is a substantially central vertical section through an illuminating gas burner of ordinary construction, provided with my improved apparatus.

Figure 2 is a side elevation. of the mechanismappearing in Figure 1 with the exception that the globe is missing. 1

Figure 3 isa plan View of the mechanism appearing in Figure 2;

Figure 4 is aplanview of a star wheel forming a part of my device. v

A gas valve appears at 5,"and is provided with a valve plug 6 held in position by aid of a cotter pin 7 and is of the usual or any desired construction. I

Secured rigidly upon the valve'plug 6 and extending upwardly therefrom is an arm 8, used as hereinatterdescribed.

The body portion of the burner appears at 9, and extending upwardly from it is a burner tube 10, provided with a rather masis encircled by a groove 12 and fitting into this groove; is a wheel 13, provided with notcheslt, as indicated in Figure 4, and which I designate as a star wheel.

A mantle 15, supported by the burner tube 10, extends upwardlytherefromas indicated in Figure 1. WVithin the base of the mantle 15 the burner tube is provided with areticulated dome 16. 1

Encircling the burner tube 1 0 and carried thereby is a floor -17, integral therewith This portion atiana and provided with an upwardly extending v flange 18 of annular form. v A globe is shown at 19 and is fitted into the flange 18, so as to rest upon the floor 17.

The floor 17 is provided with an opening 20 of small size, and is further provided,

of a spring pivot. That is, the end'pjortion 24?, extending through the slot 23, acts to some extentasa torsion spring and-thus permitsa slight torsional movement to take place between the locking lever22iancl the thermostatic bar 24, as indicated by full and dotted lines in Figure 1. v

VVhenever' the thermostatic i bar is heated or cooled,as hereinafter described, a corresponding torsional movementtakes place as indicated by the full and dotted lines shown in Figure 1 as justdescribed;

The thermostatic bar; is provided with] an end portlon 25,bent as indicated in Figure 1 and secured to the annularfloor 11"? by a rivet 26, as indicated in this figure.

A tenslle spring 27, shown in Figure ,2, ;,is connected at one of its ends with the .arm 8 and at its other end witha' stationarylug '2 8,so that the spring 27 is always under ten-' sion and has; a tendencyto rock the arm 8 n a counter-clockwise direction according to Figure2, and thus always has a tendency to shift various parts, directly controllable by the spring, into the positions indicated for them by'dotted lines in this figure.

Integral with the arm 8 is-a chain arm 29, these two arms together constitutinga bell V crank lever. The chain arm 29 isprovided with an eye3Q for facilitating its connection with a rod31, through'the medium of which the bell crank lever is actuated by hand.

The thermostatic bar 24 and the locking lever 22 are formed and arranged {as illustrated. These two parts have together, when cold, the form eta symmetrical bow as indicated by full lines in Figurefl, but when the thermostatic bar is heated, the parts just mentioned assume the form of a distorted or I broken bow, as indicated by dotted lines in Figure 1. v

The operator, bypulling or pushing upon "the rod 31, can always cause the star. wheel.

13 to rock, and thus can at will turn the gas on or ofl'.

the 'lower end of the lever 22 extends into someone of the notches 14, this does not prevent the star wheelfrom being rocked, .as the lower end of the lever 22 is merely moved out of one notch, and automatically back into another.

It will be noted that the thermostatic bar is benthpartially around the mantle 15, so

that when-the gas is burning the thermostatic bar is in close proximity to the burner flame. Therefore the thermostaticb'arwill remain heated so'long as the gas continues to burn, and during this time the lower end of the locking lever 22 will always rest in some one of the notches 14, so as to keepthe star Wheel 13 locked, and thus by preventing the arm 8 from being moved by tension of the spring ter, being thus unlocked, is now free to turn;

I and the arm 8, under control of the tensile spring 27, is thereupon rocked, in a counter-clockwise direction according to Figure- 2, so as torockI the valve plug 6v and thus close the valve.

The operationof my-device may readily be understood from the foregoing description. I I I Suppose, that at the start the valve is .closed, so that the arm 8 andparts controllab l'e thereby occupy the positions indicated for them by dottedlines in Figure 2, and

that the operator wishes to light the gas.

By pulling upon rod 31 he causes the arm to move intothe position indicated for it by full lines in Figure 2, thus extending the tensile spring 27 and opening the Valve, as ndicated in Figure 1. The gas now begins to. flow through the mantle and is easily lighted by hand. The operator continues to pull upon the rod 31 for a moment after the 0' gas is lighted, so as to allow the thermostatic 6 bar 34 to'become heated and thus to, expand. This done,the operator releases the chain 31. The locking lever 22, by preventing the star wheel from turning, prevents the arm 8 from being rocked by the spring 27 and thus prevents the valve from closing.

I If" this movement takes place I while the thermostatic bar 24 is hot, so that Suppose, next, that thegas flame is extinguished while the gasis still flowing, as. for instance by a gust of wind. The consequent cooling of the thermostatic bar causes thisbar andthe locking lever 22 to assume the positions indicated for them by full lines in Figure 1. The locking lever 22 therefore releases the star wheel 13, and thereupon the contraction of the spring 27 causes the valve to close.

The automatic action of the burner does not prevent the operator from opening and closing the valve by hand, by pushing and pulling the rod 31 as above described.

I do not limit myself to the particular mechanism here shown and described, as variations may be made without departing from my invention, the scope of which is against the tension of said spring, a locking lever provided with a portion for engaging said teeth of said wheel to prevent rotation ojffsaid star wheel, anda thermostatic bar connectedwith said locking lever for actuating said locking lever, said thermostatic bar being located in close proximity to said garner and thus adapted to be heated therey. I I

2. In anflapparatus of the character described the combination, with a gas burner and a valve for controlling a supply of gas thereto, of an arm connected with said valve for opening and closingthe same, a spring connected with said arm for the purpose of actuating said arm and thus closing said I valve, a star wheel revolubly mounted upon said burner and having aplurality of separate notches into which .said arm can be fitted Qfor holding said star wheel in different positions in order to prevent movement of said arm from closing said valve, a locking leverjournaled in close proximity to said star wheel and having a portion movable into and out of said notches in order to enable said locking lever to release said star wheel, and thermostatic mechanism connected with said locking lever for the purpose of actuating the same, said thermostatic mechanism being located in proximity of said burner and controllable by the heat thereof. i

3. In a device of the character described the combination, with a gas burner and a valve vtor controlling the flow of gas thereto,

, tion for extending into said notches in order of an arm connected to said valve and movable for controlling the same, a spring connected with said arm for shifting the position thereof in order to close said valve, a revoluble member mounted upon said burner and revoluble relatively thereto, said revoluble member being provided with a portion for engaging said lever in order to prevent said lever by its movement from closing said valve said revoluble member being pro vided with notches, a locking lever journaled upon said burner and provided with a porto prevent the movement of said revoluble member, and a thermostatic bar connected with said locking lever for the purpose of shifting the same into dilierent positions depending upon the temperature of said thermostatic bar, said thermostatic bar being located in close proximity to said burner and heated thereby.

4. In a device of the character described the combination, with a gas burner and a valve for controlling the flow of gasthereto, of mechanism for closing said valve, a locking lever connected with said mechanism for temporarily restraining the same and thus preventing said mechanism for the time being from closing said valve, a pivot upon which said locking lever is mounted in order to enable it to rock, and a thermostatic bar connected with said locking lever by means of a spring pivot, so that said thermostatic bar and said locking lever comprise practically a single continuous member, said thermostatic bar being located in proximity to said burner in order to be heated thereby.

5. In a device of the character described the combination with a gas burner and a valve for controlling the supply of gas thereto, of mechanism for closing said valve, a locking lever journaled upon said gas burn er and movable into a predetermined normal position for the purpose of restraining said mechanism and thus preventing it from closing said valve, said locking lever being provided with a slot, and a thermostatic bar provided with an end portion extending,

through said slot and thus forming a spring pivot connecting said thermostatic bar'with said locking lever in order to enable movements of said thermostatic bar to actuate LOUIS HILL. 

